News

Child gym craze an unhealthy obsession

IRISH schoolchildren as young as eight are trading television for treadmills with thousands now attending gyms on a regular basis.

The trend is worrying fitness experts, who believe it is the result of anxious parents keen to enrol their children on strict exercise regimes as Ireland faces a childhood obesity epidemic. Child psychologists and fitness instructors have warned that the new fad may fuel an unhealthy obsession with body image.

Child-oriented fitness regimes are likely to increase, however. Demand for child membership has risen sharply in recent months with leading gyms now catering for up to 4,000 children each week. Some have launched marketing campaigns to target “tweens” — children aged between eight and 12 — with specially tailored fitness regimes.

Nine out of 10 gyms contacted by The Sunday Times provided training and exercise programmes geared towards children and teenagers. Ken Robinson, president of the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management